Every year it seems that we’re confronted with more and more headlines about the horrible state of gay rights in some corner of the world – even here at home in North America. But as we head into 2020, it’s worth looking back at the tremendous progress queer people made this decade in asserting and achieving our rights clear across the globe.

For the last several years, I’ve posted this annual update on the state of same-sex marriage laws around the world as an extension of my work keeping track of global developments daily on my twitter feed @lgbtmarriage. This year, I’m adding a little tweak to point out the development of laws around LGBT rights over the past decade.

Here were the main headlines this year:

Same-sex marriage

Came into effect: Austria (2017 court ruling)
Passed and came into effect: Taiwan; Ecuador (Supreme Court Ruling); Mexican states Baja California Sur, Hidalgo, San Luis Potosi, Nuevo Leon, and Aguascalientes, with codification of court ruling in Oaxaca
Passed into law, coming into effect in 2020: Northern Ireland, Sark, (a 2018 court ruling from Costa Rica comes into effect in 2020 as well)
Court ruling not yet in effect: Mexican state Sinaloa

Civil Unions

Came into effect: San Marino
Passed into law, coming into effect in 2020: Monaco
Supreme Court ruling not yet in effect: Cayman Islands

Criminalization of Homosexuality

Decriminalization: Angola (legislative), Botswana (court ruling), Canada (archaic – legislative)
Criminalization: Gabon, Brunei (came into effect)

Anti-Discrimination

Constitutional ban on sexual orientation discrimination: San Marino

But let’s compare the change over the past decade. At the end of 2009, the only countries with same-sex marriage were the following: Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, Norway, and four US states

Over the following decade, we added 21 countries: Portugal, Iceland, Argentina, (most of) Mexico, Denmark (and all territories), the Caribbean Netherlands, Brazil, France (and all territories), Uruguay, New Zealand, UK (plus the Crown Dependencies and most territories), Luxembourg, US, Ireland, Colombia, Finland, Malta, Germany, Australia, Austria, Taiwan, and Ecuador. In addition, international court rulings have supported expanding same-sex couple rights across the Americas and the European Union, while civil society groups have emerged promoting legalization of same-sex marriage across Asia. This decade brought the movement for marriage equality to every part of the world.

The decriminalization movement also saw strong momentum this decade. Since 2010, thirteen countries have erased laws banning same-sex relations: Fiji, Lesotho, São Tomé and Príncipe, North Cyprus, Palau, Mozambique, Seychelles, Belize, Nauru, India, Trinidad and Tobago, Angola, and Botswana. In addition, Bhutan and the Cook Islands have advanced decriminalization bills that are expected to pass in 2020. We also a slight retrenchment, as Chad and Gabon criminalized same-sex relations for the first time, South Sudan was created with criminal penalties from the start and a few states like Brunei, Nigeria, and Uganda introduced stiffer penalties for them. Still, the total number of criminalizing states shrank by about one-seventh compared to 2009. And with India decriminalizing, the total number of people living in criminalizing states shrank by more than half.

It is entirely possible that within the near future, there will be more equal marriage countries (currently 29) than criminalizing states (currently 70).

What does the next decade look like for same-sex marriage and LGBT rights?

Well, the project to achieve equal marriage appears largely complete in Western Europe and the Anglophone settler countries. The next decade will likely see same-sex marriage become more mainstream in these countries, including through cleaning up family codes to provide true equality to families and legalizing full LGBT couple adoption in the few places that don’t allow it. We’ll likely also see equal marriage extended to the few territories here that don’t have it: Switzerland, Italy, the European microstates of Andorra, Liechtenstein and Monaco (though the latter two will likely await a change in their royal houses), plus the UK’s territories in the Caribbean, and American Samoa.

I imagine we’ll see equal marriage campaigns make progress in Eastern European states, especially those that are members or aspiring members of the European Union. Already, strong equal marriage movements exist in Czechia and Slovenia, many of these states recognize some form of civil union, and discussion around LGBT couple rights has become commonplace. It’s entirely possible that by the end of the decade, the EU itself could determine that marriage is a fundamental right that must be protected.

In the Americas, where more than 80% of the population already lives in an equal marriage jurisdiction, we’ve only begun to see the fallout of the 2018 Interamerican Court of Human Rights decision on same-sex marriage and trans rights, with decisions in Costa Rica and Ecuador enforcing it. We’ll likely see the decision take root in much of the rest of Latin America (and some Caribbean states that accept the jurisdiction of the court) through the 2020s. Cuba and Chile already have strong equal marriage movements that could bear fruit in the next couple of years.

In the Anglo Caribbean, we’ll probably see many, if not all, of these states decriminalize homosexuality through the pending court cases that have already been filed. While these states are tiny, they are 1/7^th of the world’s criminalizing countries. Meanwhile, I suspect Dutch Caribbean countries Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten could be the most likely of the small islands to legalize next, although reports from there are hard to come by.

The real place to watch in the 2020s will be Asia. Will the Taiwanese equal marriage decision be a one-off? I don’t think so, given the vocal LGBT rights movements that have sprung up across the region in its wake. I would wager Japan and Thailand are the most likely places to legalize same-sex marriage (civil partnerships are up for a vote in the latter in 2020). Movements have also gained momentum in India, China, Bhutan, Nepal, South Korea, Philippines, and Cambodia. These are nowhere near mainstream yet, but then again, it wasn’t a mainstream opinion ten years before Obergfell in the USA. I would also wager that criminal laws against homosexuality will disappear for good in places like Sri Lanka, Singapore, Myanmar and Bhutan (already scheduled for a vote in the latter). The UN’s successful repeal campaign in the Pacific region will also continue to bear fruit, I think. The seven Oceania states that criminalize homosexuality are 1/10^th of the criminalizing states.

Africa remains a real longshot to see same-sex marriage take root. There are cases in Namibia and Mauritius and we’ll see how they shake out. I suspect we’ll see some states repealing criminalizing laws and other states entrenching them more deeply, but it’s impossible to predict right now. Court cases in Kenya and Mauritius for decriminalization are ongoing, and there had previously been active campaigns seeking decriminalization in Malawi, Morocco, Tunisia, and Zimbabwe. But for the most part, the future in Africa is unclear.

For now, the total population living in same-sex marriage looks approximately like this:

United States (including Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and the US Virgin Islands; excluding American Samoa)	327,847,797
Brazil	209,567,920
Mexico	128,632,004
Germany	80,716,000
United Kingdom (including Isle of Man, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, Bermuda, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Pitcairn Islands, Akrotiri & Dhekelia, St. Helena, Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, UK Antarctic territory)	67,924,003
France (including all territories)	66,842,000
South Africa	54,978,907
Colombia	48,654,392
Spain	46,064,604
Argentina	43,847,277
Canada	36,286,378
Taiwan	23,550,077
Australia	23,702,300
Netherlands (including Caribbean Netherlands, excluding Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten)	17,000,059
Ecuador	16,385,450
Belgium	11,371,928
Portugal	10,304,434
Sweden	9,851,852
Austria	8,504,850
Denmark (including Greenland and Faroe Islands)	5,764,423
Finland	5,523,904
Norway	5,271,958
Ireland	4,713,993
New Zealand (excluding territories)	4,565,185
Uruguay	3,444,071
Luxembourg	576,243
Malta	446,547
Iceland	331,778
TOTAL	1,262,670,332

 

The Americas

Up to 2009: Canada, four US states
2010-2018: USA, (most of) Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Colombia, French territories, Caribbean Netherlands, Bermuda, Greenland;
Civil unions in Chile and Aruba
Updates in 2019: Ecuador, Mexican states Baja California Sur, Hidalgo, San Luis Potosi, Nuevo Leon, Aguascalientes, and the Supreme Court of Cayman Islands finds for civil unions (not yet in effect)

Looking ahead to 2020: A court ruling for equal marriage in Costa Rica comes into effect no later than May 26; Court rulings are pending in Chile, Honduras, Panama and Peru; the Judicial Committee of the UK Privy Council may hear appeals in the Bermuda and Cayman Islands marriage cases that may spell the fate of marriage bans in five remaining UK territories that do not have same-sex marriage; a bill may yet advance through Chile’s legislature.
Court cases seeking decriminalization of same-sex relations have been filed in Jamaica, Barbados, St Dominica, and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Through the 2010s, the vast majority of people living in the Americas saw their countries legalize same-sex marriage, as the biggest countries in the hemisphere all swung in favor. In addition, a 2018 ruling by the Interamerican Court of Human Rights, a super-national court whose decisions are binding on several other states in the Americas came down in favor of equal marriage and trans rights. States have been slow to accept the ruling (the IACHR has no enforcement mechanism of its own), but we’ve already seen courts in Costa Rica and Ecuador enact the decision locally.

Here are this year’s main developments:

Ecuador: The Constitutional Court began hearings into same-sex marriage in March 2019, in part spurred on by the 2018 IACHR ruling. A decision was announced quickly in June 2019 and took effect on publication July 8. Reactions from politicians, including the president, have been largely supportive. Previously, Ecuador had only civil unions for same-sex couples, but that was considered rather radical when they were enacted in 2008. It is not currently clear if same-sex married couples may adopt, though recent court decisions suggest the courts may lean toward at least co-parent recognition.

(In all of the maps in this section, Light Green signifies the country is under the jurisdiction of the Interamerican Court of Human Rights and must eventually abide by its decision on equal marriage; Yellow signifies that the country has a criminal prohibition against homosexuality (though not enforced); and Red signifies the constitution is interpreted to ban same-sex marriage.)

Costa Rica: Politicians have failed to legislate for equal marriage in advance of last year’s Supreme Court ruling taking effect, but that’s not to say there haven’t been developments and drama. In February, new guidelines were published allowing same-sex couples access to a housing allowance, anticipating the new laws. Meanwhile, conservative lawmakers tried to pass a ban on same-sex marriage in defiance of the ruling, allowing LGBT civil unions only. The attempt failed. The Supreme Court ruling takes effect May 26, 2020.

Mexico: The progressive wave that swept through Mexican states in 2018 elections had a little more luck this year, but also some stumbles. Equal marriage bills passed in Baja California Sur, Hidalgo, and San Luis Potosi. Courts issued acts of unconstitutionality (strikedowns of laws that are only allowed in rare circumstances in Mexican law) in Aguascalientes and Nuevo Leon. [EDIT: Oaxaca also passed a bill codifying a 2018 court decision for equal marriage into law, and some municipalities in Baja California reduced the extra administrative work required for same-sex marriage]. Votes to legalize same-sex marriage failed in Yucatan (multiple times!), Zacatecas and Sinaloa, but in the latter, a very recent court ruling seems to have ordered the legislature to reconsider – which leaders are saying they will do in early 2020. Meanwhile, the national MORENA party has proposed a constitutional amendment that would compel all states to legalize same-sex marriage within three months if passed. We’ll keep an eye on this in the new year, however bear in mind that LGBT couples do have access to marriage through a rather elaborate and expensive legal process even in states where it is not officially legal. In total, 18 out of 31 states and Mexico City provide legal same-sex marriages in law. We may also expect further states to pass marriage equality bills on their own in the new year, particularly Baja California, Puebla, Mexico State, and Veracruz where discussions were ongoing all year.

Chile: A same-sex marriage bill that has been stalled in the legislature since 2016 saw renewed interest in 2019, as the President of the Senate insisted it would be brought forward for debate. There appears to be a majority in support of the bill in both houses, though the President has stated his clear opposition and threatened a veto. The Chilean LGBT group Movilh, has brought a complaint to the Interamerican Commission on Human Rights, which had brokered a friendly settlement between Movilh and the previous government that was predicated on legalization. Progress on the bill has stalled, perhaps in part due to civil unrest in the country.
Meanwhile, a case seeking same-sex marriage is winding its way through the courts: After the Court of Appeals refused to hear the case in January, the Supreme Court intervened and ordered it to hear the case in February. We’ll keep watching all the developments here.
Fun fact: Chile is the only country with a territorial claim to Antarctica without same-sex marriage, so it’s the last holdout on that continent (besides Argentina, UK, France, Norway, Australia and New Zealand). Easter Island in Polynesia would also be affected by any equal marriage law in Chile.

Cuba: After much debate, the new Cuban constitution neither enacted nor banned same-sex marriage in the country. The government has suggested that same-sex marriage will be included in revisions to the country’s Family Code, expected to be put to referendum in early 2021, following consultations in 2020.

United States: The Bay Mills Indian Community, the Colorado River Indian Tribes, and the Oglala Sioux Tribe updated their local laws to allow for same-sex marriage (most of the more than 500 Indigenous nations of the US operate under their own marriage law, although many recognize any legal marriage performed in the US).
A federal court decided for the first time that American Samoans are US citizens by birth, not “US Nationals.” The reason this is important is that this unique distinction is the reason why the 2015 Supreme Court decision for equal marriage has not been applied to American Samoa. We shall see how the courts and governments interpret the decision. If it stands, it would seem to be an open and shut case for a local to bring a challenge in court for equal marriage. It is the last remaining US territory without equal marriage.

Canada: After years of delay, Canada finally updated its Criminal Code to remove archaic laws that had been used to target queer people. These included a differential age of consent for anal sex (already struck down in several provinces), and other offences related to vagrancy and bawdy houses. An “indecent acts” offence remains on the books after Parliament had been assured that the offence is so limited as to not specifically target queer people, but rather public and abusive sexual behavior. Decriminalization of homosexuality began in 1969, when buggery was removed from the criminal code.

El Salvador: The Constitutional Court agreed to hear a same-sex marriage case in August.

Panama, Honduras: Same-sex marriage cases are pending in these countries’ constitutional courts, for several years.

Venezuela: No progress amid the ongoing political chaos on the country.

Peru, Paraguay: Upcoming elections have included discussions about same-sex marriage, which hints that the public is opening up to the idea. I would be surprised if any real change comes in the new year though. A court case in Peru is seeking recognition of marriages performed abroad.

[EDIT: Curaçao: Two MPs submitted a same-sex marriage bill to the Estates of Curaçao, but the bill has not been brought up for a vote or debate as far as I can see.]

UK Territories: Bermuda’s legal ban on same-sex marriage was struck down by the courts last year, though the decision is being appealed to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The Cayman Islands High Court ruled in favor of equal marriage in February, but the Court of Appeal overturned the decision in November. The Appeal Court ruling called on the government to instead pass a civil partnership law equivalent to marriage, but did not impose a deadline. The petitioning couple was considering an appeal to the Privy Council as well. Whatever the Privy Council decides will likely impact the remaining UK territories without equal marriage, all in the Americas: Virgin Islands, Turks and Caicos, Anguilla, and Montserrat. The case will likely be heard in the new year, and the court will have a few options: impose equal marriage, impose civil partnerships (perhaps with a deadline, or a threat to impose equal marriage), or do nothing at all. If I had to guess, I’d say civil partnerships are the most likely result. A possible monkey wrench is that the UK government itself could step in and impose either equal marriage or civil partnerships, as Parliament had hinted it was willing to do earlier this year when it issued a report calling on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to do just that (and when it imposed those laws on Northern Ireland). However, the makeup of Parliament has changed significantly since then.

Anglo Caribbean: Following successful court cases striking down sodomy laws in Belize (2016) and Trinidad and Tobago (2018), LGBT activists across the Caribbean organized a campaign to file court cases challenging sodomy laws in the other former British colonies in the region. The campaign has been supported by Canadian activists including the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and law students at the University of Toronto, as well as local groups and Lawyers Without Borders. These nine states are the only Western Hemisphere countries that still criminalize same-sex relations (though a vague statue against cross-dressing stands in Haiti).

A court case in Jamaica has been pending and subject to delays in local courts since 2015. The IACHR announced a review of the laws in 2018. This year, a local activist has also petitioned the IACHR to rule in favor of same-sex marriage on the island. The Interamerican Commission heard the sodomy law challenge in November and is expected to rule in the new year. A separate case seeking equal marriage was also filed in local Jamaican courts this year.

A case filed at the IACHR by three LGBT people from Barbados in 2018 saw the beginnings of action. The Commission called on the state to file a response in July 2019. There is no word yet on how the government responded, though the government has insisted it will defend the law. (Hey Rihanna, any chance you could help out your gay fans by calling on your country’s government to do better?)

A gay man who wishes to remain anonymous filed a case against Dominica’s sodomy and gross indecency laws in June 2019, which is pending.

After a well publicized murder of a man perceived to be gay in February, and the suicide of a gay teen in March, Saint Lucia’s Justice Minister and many local religious leaders called for a review of the buggery law. The country had its first pride parade in August. Saint Lucia is one of the countries targeted for a sodomy law challenge, though no case has yet been filed.

Two gay men who are living elsewhere as refugees filed a challenge to the sodomy law in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in July 2019. The Prime Minister has suggested that if the law fails here, similar laws will tumble across the Eastern Caribbean, as they all have the same general foundation.

Guyana’s local LGBT group SASOD said in May that it hoped the government would repeal the sodomy laws, following successful discussions with the Legal Affairs Ministry. Guyana’s ban on cross-dressing was struck down by the Caribbean Court of Justice in 2018.

Cases have not yet been filed (or publicized) in Saint Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, and Grenada.

In a late breaking development, on Dec 30, 2019, the Belize Court of Appeal upheld the 2016 decision that both struck down the criminal provisions against homosexuality and that found that “sexual orientation” is included under “sex” in the list of categories upon which people may not be discriminated against under the Belize constitution. The government has not yet indicated if it will pursue a further appeal (it had only appealed the discrimination portion of the case previously) to the Caribbean Court of Justice, Belize’s final court of appeal. While the Caribbean nations’ justice systems aren’t directly linked, this decision likely throws more weight behind the other pending cases.

Europe

Up to 2009: Netherlands, Belgium, Spain Sweden, Norway
2010-2018: Portugal, France, Iceland, UK (minus Northern Ireland, but including Gibraltar, Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Akrotiri and Dhekelia), Ireland, Germany, Malta, Luxembourg, Denmark (and Greenland and the Faroe Islands), Finland
Civil unions in Andorra, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Liechtenstein
Updates in 2019: Austria (came into effect Jan 1), Northern Ireland (comes into effect in 2020); Sark (UK Crown Dependency; comes into effect in 2020); Civil unions become law in San Marino, Monaco (comes into effect in 2020)

(Europe in 2009 vs 2019: Dark Blue = equal marriage, Light Blue = civil unions, Mauve = very limited recognition of foreign same-sex partnerships; NOTE: these maps imply no judgement on the territorial disputes involving Ukraine, Russia, Moldova, and Georgia; they’re just the maps I pulled from Wikipedia and slightly modified)

Looking ahead to 2020: Switzerland’s years-long debate on same-sex marriage is expected to come to law in 2020, following elections that saw pro-equality forces win a larger majority this year. It’s unclear if a referendum will be held on the issue. A marriage bill has stalled in Czechia, but could still be revived in the new year. San Marino may see the issue come up as well.

Austria: A constitutional court ruling in 2017 came into effect Jan 1, 2019. The right-wing coalition government had initially opposed the ruling, but did pass enabling legislation. A bill was passed specifically to allow people from countries that do not allow same-sex marriage to marry in Austria. However, the law currently requires LGBT couples who’d married abroad prior to 2019 to divorce and remarry to have the marriage recognized in Austria.

UK: The minority parliament managed to pass a bill in October legalizing same-sex marriage (and abortion) in Northern Ireland – the only part of the UK not to allow it. The bill takes effect 13 January 2020, though due to the waiting period, the first marriages are expected to occur around Valentine’s Day.
The tiny Crown Dependency Sark (pop 600, a dependency of the dependency Guernsey) passed a bill for same-sex marriage in December. It has to be approved by the UK Privy Council (expected in February 2020) before it can take effect. It was the last remaining territory in Western Europe (other than the Vatican) to recognize same-sex couples.
Gibraltar amended its Marriage Act to remove the right of registrars to opt out of solemnizing same-sex marriages.
As discussed in the section on the Americas, courts in the Cayman Islands held that same-sex marriage is not required by law, but civil partnerships are. The case, and another case from 2018 in Bermuda, will likely end up before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in 2020, which will likely determine the fate of equal marriage in the UK’s other holdout territories: Anguilla, Montserrat, Virgin Islands, and Turks and Caicos. During the minority Parliament, a committee had also called on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to impose an equal marriage law on all territories by an order-in-council (similar to how the UK decriminalized sodomy in those territories in 2000), but it’s not clear how the new government intends to proceed on the issue (if at all).

Monaco: After years of debate, Monaco’s legislature unanimously passed a civil unions bill despite the threat of veto by the country’s Prince. You may have thought Monaco was a constitutional democracy with a figurehead prince like the UK, but in fact, the Prince wields extensive legislative and executive power derived from his divine monarchical rights through the Catholic Church (this is the same reason Liechtenstein won’t have same-sex marriage or adoption any time soon). For years, he had opposed recognizing LGBT couples and had proposed a compromise that recognized them as being essentially equal to siblings or cousins. The compromise legislation allows family members to form registered relationships, but also creates a civil unions specifically for LGBT couples. The civil union contract provides for limited enumerated rights. It is expected to come into force in mid-2020.

San Marino: San Marino’s civil union law passed last year and came into effect in February 2019.  In March, the country passed a constitutional amendment banning discrimination based on sexual orientation. A 2017 proposal passed by Parliament allowing foreign LGBT couples to marry in San Marino has not yet been enacted, but we’ll keep an eye out to see if it comes up in 2020. (You’d think that constitutional amendment passed this year might also set a precedent for full same-sex marriage rights).

Czechia: A same-sex marriage bill was debated in Parliament in May but appears to have stalled.

Estonia: The Supreme Court ruled that foreign LGBT partners of Estonian citizens may apply for residency rights in June 2019.

Serbia: A lesbian couple filed a legal challenge seeking a civil partnership in July. Prime Minister Ana Brnabić’s female partner gave birth to a son in February.

Romania: Seven couples have brought a case to the ECHR seeking to compel the government to create civil partnerships in compliance with the ECHR’s 2015 decision Oliari v Italy. [EDIT: A civil partnership bill failed in the legislature in 2019]

[EDIT:

Lithuania: In January, the Constitutional Court affirmed the right of foreign same-sex spouses to reside in Lithuania, in compliance with the 2018 European Court of Justice ruling.

Poland: In February, an administrative court found that while a same-sex couple married in Portugal could not register their marriage in Poland under current law, the constitution does not prevent the government from amending the law to allow it. Most scholars had previously considered Poland’s 1997 constitution to have an iron-clad same-sex marriage ban. As both partners were Polish, the ECJ ruling on recognizing foreign spouses did not apply.

Montenegro: A civil partnership bill failed in the legislature.

France: A bill to allow medically assisted reproduction for lesbian couples passed the lower house of Parliament, and awaits a vote in the Senate.]

Other developments: The right-wing government that opposes same-sex marriage was reelected in Andorra, effectively keeping the issue down until 2023. The right-wing coalition collapsed in Italy, bringing the centre-left Democrats back to power in Italy, but equal marriage does not appear to be a top-of-mind issue there. A pro-LGBT-marriage president was elected in Slovakia, and while she doesn’t have direct power over the issue, it hints that the issue is opening up there. A right-wing government was elected in Greece, which will likely put the issue off for another four years there. Polls show majority support for same-sex marriage in Andorra, Czechia, Italy, Slovenia, and Switzerland.

New countries: It seems the momentum has left the Catalonia separatist movement in Spain, but that country remains embroiled in a political crisis at time of writing. Scotland’s separatists have renewed calls for independence in the aftermath of the December election and the upcoming Brexit. Both countries would be born with legal same-sex marriage if they ever become independent. Efforts to reunify Cyprus have continued to run up against a brick wall, so North Cyprus will remain effectively independent for the time being, and thus outside the scope of Cyprus’ civil partnership law, or EU law.

European Union: EU expansion has remained stalled as members dealt with Brexit. But the final deal resolving the name dispute between Greece and North Macedonia has held through a change of government, meaning it may soon begin accession negotiations. EU membership comes with a number of LGBT rights advancements, including recognition of couples for residency purposes. Meanwhile, countries in the EU have gradually been adopting or codifying the 2018 ECJ ruling regarding foreign same-sex spouses’ residency rights.

Africa

Up to 2009: South Africa, Spanish territories
2010-2018: Portuguese, French and UK territories
Updates in 2019: Court case proceeding in Namibia

More important in Africa is the campaign to decriminalize same-sex relations.

Decriminalized 2010-2018: Lesotho, São Tomé and Príncipe, Mozambique, Seychelles
Criminalized 2010-2018: Chad, South Sudan (new country)
Decriminalized 2019: Angola, Botswana
Criminalized 2019: Gabon

Angola: Following years of debate, Angola passed a new penal code that decriminalized gay sex in January. It is the last of the Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) countries to do so.

Botswana: The High Court of Botswana struck down the sodomy law in June, however the government has announced an appeal. The High Court also found that the prohibition on discrimination based on “sex” in the constitution also forbade discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Kenya: The High Court of Kenya upheld the sodomy laws in May, though activists have said they plan to appeal.

Mauritius: A constitutional challenge to the colonial sodomy law had its first hearing in November, with a second hearing scheduled for Feb 18, 2020.

Namibia: In the wake of Botswana’s High Court ruling, several prominent politicians called for the sodomy laws to be repealed. In June, three cases seeking access to legal marriage for same-sex couples (both domestic and bi-national) were brought forward. We’ll keep an eye on this going forward.

Gabon: The small Francophone country passed its first law to criminalize same-sex relations. The penalty is up o 6 months in prison and a 5 million CFA franc fine (nearly $8500 USD).

Morocco: The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe called on Morocco to decriminalize same-sex relations. Activists called for a repeal.

Tunisia: An openly gay man announced a run for the presidency in the 2019 elections. Crackdowns on LGBT people continued.

Zambia: The country became a flashpoint after a local gay couple was sentenced to 15 years in prison under the sodomy law. The US Ambassador was recalled after he publicly expressed outrage at the sentence, drawing the ire of local politicians.

Asia-Pacific

Up to 2009: Nada
2010-2018: New Zealand, Australia, French territories, UK territories, US territories (Guam and Northern Mariana Islands only); limited recognition in Israel; limited civil partnerships in parts of Taiwan and Japan
Updates in 2019: Taiwan; limited civil partnerships recognized in China and expanded couple recognition in Hong Kong, limited civil partnership registries expand to more municipalities in Japan.

(In the above map, Dark Blue = equal marriage, Blue = civil unions, Light Blue = limited registered partnerships; Pale Blue = limited partnerships in some municipalities; Purple = foreign marriages recognized; Mauve = limited recognition of foreign marriages; Yellow = criminal prohibition on homosexuality unenforced; Tawny = limits to free expression for LGBT people; Orange = enforced criminal penalty; Dark Orange = unenforced death penalty; Red = death penalty for homosexuality)

Looking ahead to 2020: American Samoa may be forced to legalize same-sex marriage in the wake of a federal court’s citizenship ruling; civil partnership law expected to come to a vote in Thailand; Israel will go to the polls for a third time in twelve months this March, in an election that could bring to power a progressive coalition that favors equal marriage.

The decriminalization movement also had a very successful decade

Decriminalized 2010-2018: India, Fiji, Nauru, Palau, Sri Lanka (law nullified, but not repealed)
Criminalized 2010-2018: parts of Indonesia

India was previously home to more than half the world’s population living in criminalizing states. The court decision decriminalizing it has inspired courts in many parts of the world since, including Trinidad and Tobago and Botswana, to decriminalize (although, notably, the Kenya High Court was not convinced), as many of these countries laws against homosexuality come from the same source – British colonial laws – and use the same language. Notably, it’s also inspired activists and legislators across the region to push to end these laws.

And while Fiji, Nauru, and Palau are tiny countries, they represent about a third of the countries in Oceania that criminalized homosexuality in 2009. The momentum is building.

A similar thing is happening with marriage equality. Whereas very recently it was commonplace to read that marriage equality would never come to Asia, legalization in Taiwan appears to have spurred activists across the continent to push for equality. Equal marriage movements are now well-established in South Korea, Japan, China, Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, and India – even if more victories seem far off now.

Taiwan: Amid much drama, in May, the Taiwanese government managed to pass an equal marriage bill ahead of a 2017 court-imposed deadline of May 24, 2019. The bill provides almost total equality, although only stepchild adoption is permitted by same-sex couples. It was a compromise bill, after last year’s referendum saw strong majorities opposed to full equality.

China: Reports emerged this year of great numbers of LGBT couples taking advantage of a 2017 guardianship law to essentially create civil partnerships with very limited rights and legal recognition. Meanwhile, a commission reviewing China’s civil code has received hundreds of thousands of demands for same-sex marriage. While the government appears to acknowledge the demand, it’s considered at this point unlikely to accommodate it in the draft code update to be released in 2020. It goes without saying, but if China legalized, it would be the biggest country in the world to do so, more than doubling the current population living in equal marriage states.

Hong Kong: Court cases seeking equal marriage and LGBT civil partnerships were filed in January, but only the civil partnership case was heard, in May. A separate court case found that LGBT couples married abroad are entitled to spousal and tax benefits in June, and the government has complied.

Japan: Starting in 2015, a handful of municipalities offered partnership certificates to LGBT couples. Although these carry no legal weight, they reportedly can help with certain administrative procedures, like hospital visitation or securing housing. In 2019, the number of municipalities offering the certificates skyrocketed from just 9 to 30, with a further 10 to begin offering them in 2020. In addition, Ibaraki prefecture (one of Japan’s 47 sub-national jurisdictions) began offering them.
Additionally lawsuits seeking equal marriage were filed with the courts in February. Japan’s constitution contains an ambiguously worded definition of marriage that some claim bans same-sex marriage. Support for same-sex marriage was expressed by the Japanese Bar Association in a public letter to the government in June. One of the major opposition parties also supports same-sex marriage, but the government is not expected to face a serious challenge in the 2020 elections. Public opinion is generally considered to be in favor of equal marriage.
One potentially notable event: The government halted the deportation of a Taiwanese man who had overstayed his visa, recognizing his 25-year relationship with a male citizen.

Philippines: A case seeking same-sex marriage was thrown out by the Supreme Court in September. Legislation both for civil unions and “SOGIE” non-discrimination also stalled in the face of opposition from the president of the Senate.

South Korea: The government announced it would recognize the same-sex spouses of foreign diplomats in September. In February, the national human rights commission refused to hear a case of a binational queer couple seeking recognition and residency rights.

Thailand: A civil partnership bill has been approved by the Cabinet, but has not yet been voted on by the legislature. It is expected to pass in 2020. Still, some activists are calling for full equal marriage.

Singapore: Another challenge of the criminal sodomy law was filed in September.

India: Court cases were filed seeking same-sex marriage. One was thrown out in June by the Delhi High Court, which ruled that was up to the legislature to decide. Meanwhile, India passed a trans rights bill that was opposed by many trans activists as it required completed sex reassignment surgery in order for a person’s gender to be changed on official documents. Discussion of gay rights and equal marriage became more commonplace in Indian media.

Bhutan: Taking inspiration from India, the tine Himalayan country Bhutan prepared to decriminalize homosexuality. A bill to strike gay sex offences from the criminal code passed the lower house in June, and awaits a hearing in the upper house (which only sits once every six months) in the new year. In a welcome turn, legislators have said that decriminalization is only the beginning, and they would like to proactively protect LGBT rights, with some discussion already happening around anti-discrimination, hate crimes, and couple recognitions. We’ll keep an eye on this.

Cook Islands: A bill to reform the criminal code, including by striking sodomy offences that date to the colonial period, was introduced in 2017 but has stalled amid much debate. After receiving positive global press, legislators on the select committee reviewing the bill reinserted the sodomy offences and actually made them more severe, criminalizing lesbianism for the first time. While the committee was due to present its work to parliament in February 2020, it just secured another six-month extension to do more consultation, delaying a final vote to August. We’ll follow this to see what happens. LGBT activists from New Zealand (the current nation with which it is in association) have been the most forceful critics of the legislation, and have threatened a tourism boycott.

[EDIT: Australia: Western Australia and Tasmania passed bills removing the requirement that married trans people get a divorce before changing their sex designation (a logical consequence of the 2017 same-sex marriage law). Western Australia also legalized surrogacy for same-sex couples, which takes effect in February 2020.]

Israel: The country has been in a political deadlock after two indecisive elections. A third is scheduled for March 2020. While the governing right-wing coalition is hostile to LGBT rights, the left-wing coalition has been more generally open. While marriage equality hasn’t been a key theme of any of the recent election campaigns, the left-wing coalition historically has supported opening up marriage, especially as it courts religious and ethnic minorities that are barred from marriage under the current laws that do not recognize civil or inter-faith marriages.

Nepal: Still no movement on same-sex marriage after the 2008 Supreme Court decision in favor of its legalization.

Armenia: In November, Parliament rejected a bill to further ban same-sex marriage, as it’s already banned under the constitution and Family Code.

My new short film, INCOMING MISSILE! is finally out! It’s a dark comedy about dating, toxic masculinity, and the apocalypse. Watch it below, or visit us on YouTube, and don’t forget to hit “like” and subscribe!

Read more about the film.

Last year, I wrote a spec script for the hit CW show Arrow, based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow. I’ve been a fan of the show and the wider Arrowverse since it premiered and I would love to work on it some day.

I think I captured the voice of the show while still infusing it with my own style of humor. Unfortunately, events in the back half of last season and the beginning of this season have made my script mostly unusable (it hinges on Oliver Queen still being mayor, and includes characters who’ve since been written out of the show). But if you’d like to take a look at how I write action and where I thought the show might go, check it out below.

Arrow Spec Script “Mr. Miracle” (PDF).

Synopsis: A crime spree centered around a fashionable new drug called “anti-life” puts Team Arrow on the trail of a plot that may involve a visiting circus performer who goes by the name ‘Mr. Miracle.’

The fight for queer relationship equality; where we stand in 2018

Overview:

2018 was a bit of an up-and-down year for the equal marriage movement. While no countries fully extended same-sex marriage rights in the past twelve months, several international developments took place that broadened LGBT rights and set the stage for more victories in 2019 and beyond.

This year saw equal marriage extended for the first time to the UK Crown Dependencies of Alderney and Jersey, the UK territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, and a civil union law passed in San Marino – altogether, that’s less than 200,000 new people added to our equal marriage populations chart (and Jersey previously had civil unions). You can just refer to last year’s population chart if you’re interested, since so little changed.

 

EUROPE:

Before 2018: Equal Marriage in Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Malta; parts of the UK (England, Scotland, Wales, Isle of Man, Guernsey, Gibraltar, Akrotiri & Dhekelia bases); partial implementation in Austria; recognition of foreign marriages in Estonia and Armenia. Civil Unions in: Andorra, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Italy, Czech Republic, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Finland, Germany, Malta, Greece, and Cyprus.

Developments in 2018: Equal Marriage in UK territories Jersey and Alderney; EU court ruling for mutual recognition.

Looking ahead: Czech Republic, Austria, UK (Jersey, Sark, Northern Ireland), Switzerland, Monaco, Romania

EUROPEAN UNION: The European Court of Justice ruled that EU member states much recognize each other’s same-sex marriages when it comes to the mobility rights of EU Citizens, their spouses and families. The ruling impacts several states that recognized neither same-sex marriage nor civil unions: Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania. Estonia already recognized foreign same-sex marriages in practice. The ruling also stands to impact same-sex marriages in several applicant/candidate EU countries: Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, Serbia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina (Turkey’s progress has basically been suspended given the country’s slide into authoritarianism).

UK: Once again, Northern Ireland was locked in a governmental deadlock all year as the Protestant Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), has continued to see fit to leave Northern Ireland without a government rather than allow equal marriage to pass. The UK government has likewise refused to impose direct rule as the current government depends on the DUP for survival in Parliament. Twin private members’ bills in both houses of Parliament to allow equal marriage in the province have both failed to advance. A bill to allow the civil service to continue the functions of government in Northern Ireland included a directive that the government recognize the same-sex marriage ban as a human rights violation was passed by Parliament, but has thus far not been tested. The Court of Appeal also heard a challenge of a ruling upholding the same-sex marriage ban in March, but has yet to issue a ruling.

Meanwhile, an equal marriage law in the crown dependence Alderney that passed last year came into effect, and crown dependency Jersey passed its same-sex marriage law in May 2018. The remaining crown dependency, Sark (pop. 600) did not have equal marriage on its agenda in 2018. An election in that territory is expected in early 2019.

Other UK territories that passed equal marriage laws in 2018 are Bermuda and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. You can read more about those territories in the section on the Americas. As of now, 9/14 UK overseas territories allow same-sex marriage.

AUSTRIA: On Dec. 5, 2017, the Constitutional Court found that marriage is a fundamental right that must be granted to homosexuals. The ruling took effect immediately for the five petitioning couples, so some same-sex marriages have already taken place in Austria. However, the court gave the government until Jan. 1 2019 to craft a law that would have general effect; after that date, the court’s ruling will strike down the same-sex marriage ban even if the government doesn’t act. The far-right, anti-gay government was not in a rush to act in 2018, but as of Jan 1, it’s officially an equal marriage country.

SWITZERLAND: A long-delayed same-sex marriage bill is expected to be presented to Parliament in early 2019. Also, on Jan. 1, 2018, a new law came into effect allowing couples in registered partnerships to adopt their stepchildren (joint adoption/non-relative adoption is still not allowed). Still, don’t expect neighboring Liechtenstein to act; the principality’s Catholic ruler has said in the past he would veto any laws for same-sex marriage or couple adoption.

CZECHIA: A same-sex marriage bill was introduced in late 2018, and it is expected to be voted on in early 2019. Reports indicate that a majority of the population is in favour, as are a majority of legislators. A step-child adoption bill introduced last year did not advance, but is presumably covered under the marriage legislation.

SAN MARINO: The government finally passed its civil union law, modelled after Italy’s but with the difference that it allows step-child adoption, in December 2018. Legislation to allow foreign LGBT couples to marry in San Marino, as called for by the Grand Council in a motion last year, has not been introduced.

ROMANIA: Romania was at the centre of much equal marriage mobilization in 2018. As discussed above, it was at the centre of the ECJ case in June. Then in September, the Constitutional Court of Romania issued a ruling that found LGBT couples have the same rights to privacy and family life as straight couples, urging the government to create some sort of regime for LGBT couples. Nevertheless, the government went ahead with its long delayed referendum to constitutionally ban same-sex marriage in October – that vote failed on low turnout. Following the referendum failure, several MPs introduced a civil unions bill, but it has stalled in Parliament.

MONACO: The government presented its civil partnership bill in April, but the text was much watered-down in terms of the rights it gives partners, and explicitly says the partners do not constitute a family. It has not advanced as of this writing.

ESTONIA: The courts sought to bring clarity to the law in Estonia, where a registered partnership bill was passed in 2016, but without any accompanying regulations to bring it into force (which the current government refuses to enact). The Supreme Court ruled in April 2018 that the law is in fact in force, and that couples can be registered. Courts also clarified an earlier ruling that required Estonia to recognize foreign same-sex marriages by finding in September that this did indeed confer residency rights on LGBT spouses (in compliance with the ECJ ruling).

MONTENEGRO: The country’s human rights ministry drafted a weak civil unions bill that roused anger from both progressives and conservatives. Just this week, the cabinet announced it had approved the draft bill, which, they say, accords queer couples most of the same rights as straight married couples. It will likely be brought before the Parliament in 2019.

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: The Federation of Bosnia & Herzegovina, (one of three political entities that make up the country Bosnia and Herzegovina, along with Republika Srpska and the Brcko District) passed a motion calling for LGBT civil union legislation. If passed, it would appear that it would only apply to the FBH, the Bosnian-Croat half of the country.

POLAND: A minor party introduced a registered partnership bill; it has not advanced.

SLOVAKIA: The President called on legislators to pass a civil union bill introduced by a minor party. The bill was defeated in September. However, the government did announce it was immediately complying with the ECJ ruling regarding immigration rights for LGBT spouses.

LITHUANIA: After a civil partnership bill was defeated last year, the government was on the cusp of passing a much watered-down cohabitation agreement bill, but that also has not advanced in 2018. The president called on the government to recognize LGBT couples in February.

SPAIN/CATALONIA: Spain’s constitutional crisis following a 2017 vote for independence in its Catalonia province continued. While actual secession looks unlikely right now, if it does secede, it would automatically become a new equal marriage country – and the first one to have it since its creation.

CYPRUS: Hopes for a resolution to the 40-year-old division of Cyprus have continued despite increasingly long odds of a resolution. Talks did not recommence in 2018, though some hope there will be a new round in 2019. The division is relevant because if the country reunites, it’s possible the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus, upon ceasing to exist, will become subject to Cyprus’ civil partnership law. It would also be subject to EU law, which would make it affected by the expected ECJ ruling on marriage discussed above.

MACEDONIA: The country’s rapprochement with Greece (after a 20-year-long dispute over its name) following the election of a Western-leaning government, holds promise that the country will be invited to begin EU accession talks soon, which could eventually positively impact LGBT rights in the region. It will hold a referendum in 2019 on changing its name to Republic of North Macedonia in accordance with the agreement.

ANDORRA: An election is expected in March/April 2019. Previously, the opposition Social Democrats had campaigned for same-sex marriage. It remains to be seen if they advocate for it again, and if they win. The Socialists and Greens have a narrow lead in the most recent poll.

ARMENIA: A bill to further ban same-sex marriage – despite constitutional and statutory bans already in place – was rejected by the government in November. It seems that last year’s decision to recognize foreign same-sex marriages still stands, though I’ve yet to find evidence of the policy in practice.

MALTA:  A bill allowing LGBT couples access to assisted reproduction was passed.

FINLAND: A bill extended automatic parental recognition to LGBT couples was passed.

GREECE: A bill allowed LGBT couples to foster children was passed.

 

AMERICAS

Before 2018: Equal Marriage in Canada, US (and territories Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands), Colombia, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, and twelve states and the capital district of Mexico; plus Greenland (Denmark), Caribbean Netherlands, some UK territories (Bermuda, Falkland Islands) and French overseas territories (St Pierre and Miquelon, Martinique, Saint Martin, Saint Barthelemy, Guadeloupe, French Guyana); limited recognition in Netherlands countries (Saint Martin, Curacao, Aruba); Civil Unions in: Chile, Costa Rica, Aruba (Netherlands).

Developments in 2018: Bermuda yo-yos back and forth, the UK adds South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, while the Interamerican Court of Human Rights drops a grenade.

Looking ahead: Chile, Panama, Costa Rica, Cuba, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay, Bermuda (sigh), Cayman Islands, Mexico.

 

INTERAMERICAN COURT RULING: In January, the Interamerican Court delivered an advisory opinion in a case brought by Costa Rica, that found that member states of the court are obligated under the Interamerican Convention on Human Rights, to recognize same-sex marriage and recognize the rights of trans people to change their gender. The decision sets a binding precedent on most member states, although the court does not have the power to directly enforce it – it requires local courts to interpret its rulings. The states that accept the IACHR’s jurisdiction which do not currently recognize same-sex marriage are: Barbados, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Grenada, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Suriname. However, Dominica, Grenada and Jamaica do not directly apply the jurisdiction of the Court.

In the wake of the ruling… well, it’s been a shitshow. Many countries reacted angrily to the Court’s ruling. None has directly applied the ruling.

COSTA RICA: Costa Rica is the state that kicked off the IACHR case, and may ultimately be the first to apply the decision. A Presidential election that was fought largely over this issue saw the pro-equality candidate win, although with a Congress that is not as supportive. That left it up to the Constitutional Court, which found in favour of equality in August, but didn’t publish the decision officially until November, and gave the government 18 months from that date to pass a law allowing it. If the government doesn’t act before then, it will become legal on May 26, 2020. Meanwhile, the new President passed an executive order allowing gender changes in June, and issued an apology to LGBT people for state persecution in July.

UK Territories Bermuda, Cayman Islands, and South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands (SGSSI): Bermuda was the site of much legal drama this year. After the Senate passed the Domestic Partnership Act revoking equal marriage, the UK-appointed Governor took his time approving it but finally did, to the dismay of many LGBT activists. What followed were two court cases on the island that found the government’s decision was a violation of constitutional protections of freedom of conscience – which is actually a novel argument for same-sex marriage. As the Court of Appeal refused the government’s request for a stay following its decision, equal marriage is once again legal in Bermuda. The government announced it is appealing the decision to the UK Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the highest court in the land. Incidentally, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth office has repeatedly said this year that it will not force equal marriage on its territories.

Some commentators have said that a positive decision from the JCPC could have ramifications for other countries and territories under its jurisdiction (including five other UK territories – Cayman Islands, Montserrat, Anguilla, Turks and Caicos, and Virgin Islands; one Crown Dependency – Sark; twelve independent countries: Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Grenada, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tuvalu, Mauritius, Trinidad and Tobago, and Kiribati; and two New Zealand associated states – Cook Islands and Niue). However, I don’t believe that’s how the JCPC works. Its decisions are based on the legal statutes and constitutions of each particular country – the countries do not share a single constitution that the court is interpreting. Still, its decisions could prove influential in shaping the LGBT rights debates in these countries. We shall see.

(It may be worth noting that many independent Caribbean countries have been rejecting attempts to replace the JCPC’s jurisdiction with the Caribbean Court of Justice in recent years, including both Antigua and Barbuda and Grenada in 2018. We’ll see if they don’t regret that decision.)

In the Cayman Islands, a court case seeking same-sex marriage rights was brought by a bi-national Caymanian lesbian couple. It has yet to be heard.

In the uninhabited SGSSI, the UK government attempted to rewrite history, by declaring in 2018 that same-sex marriage has been legal there since 2014. Regular readers of this blog know that’s false, since just last year, the registrar from the Falkland Islands (which has jurisdiction over the territory) told me same-sex marriage was impossible there. Oh well, it’s academic, because it’s legal now.

CHILE: Congress failed to pass a marriage equality bill in its lame-duck session, and although the new congress has a pro-equality majority, new President Pinera has been in no rush to support it. The bill is essentially frozen, which has elicited a dressing down from the IACHR, to which Chile pledged year ago under President Bachelet to pass such a law. We shall see how it progresses.

MEXICO: Elections in July saw a rather dramatic change occur across the country, as a pro-equality leftist president was sworn in, and his MORENA coalition won an absolute majority in both houses of Congress, and in the congresses of a dozen states where same-sex marriage is currently not legal. Early fears that evangelical members of the MORENA coalition would block marriage legislation have not panned out. The federal government has already passed legislation extending federal rights to LGBT couples (pension and social security rights) and has proposed changes to fully incorporate LGBT marriage into federal law (so couples can get married at embassies and automatically enjoy federal recognition). At the state level, it appears that local legislators are pushing ahead with new same-sex marriage legislation all over the country, and I fully expect to see major progress on this end in 2019. Reports have also emerged that Sinaloa, Tamaulipas, and Nuevo Leon states have achieved the magic number of five consecutive amparos requiring same-sex marriage that could automatically invalidate their state bans, but the invalidation doesn’t seem to have taken effect. I take reports of these “5 amparo” developments with a big grain of salt, because it seems very few people actually understand how the law works in this regard.

PANAMA: A Supreme Court case dating from 2016 still was not resolved as of this writing, though there was some drama surrounding a draft ruling that was released last year and found against equality – it was withdrawn in February. A couple of dates went by in December where we expected to see the ruling, but it didn’t arrive. It is expected the new ruling will take into account the IACHR decision. The Vice President and Attorney General have both said the government must fully comply with the IACHR, but no executive action has been taken so far.

ECUADOR: Following the IACHR ruling, a provincial court in Cuenca, Azuay ruled that the government must recognize LGBT marriages in June, but that ruling was overturned in September by a higher court. In July, the president of the Constitutional Court said that a majority of justices were in favour of same-sex marriage and would likely vote in favour of it. No case has yet been brought to the Constitutional Court.

CUBA: After a change in the presidency, the country spent much of the year debating a new constitution, which included a clause that called for gay marriage. After a backlash from Evangelicals, the clause was altered to be less specific, but leave language vague enough to allow for gay marriage in the future. Mariela Castro, the country’s most prominent LGBT rights activist, says nothing’s really changed, since the language still permits equal marriage legislation, which would need to be passed anyway. She says after the new constitution is passed in a February 2019 referendum, discussions will begin on a new, LGBT inclusive family code, which will probably go to referendum in 2021.

VENEZUELA: Also in the process of drafting a new constitution which could include same-sex marriage. Venezuela is kind of a legislative shitshow right now, with dueling legislative assemblies – the de jure National Assembly, which is controlled by the opposition, and the de facto Citizens Assembly, which is controlled by the government and has been charged with drafting the new constitution. Amazingly, both seem to support same-sex marriage but neither has passed such a law. A Supreme Court case on the issue has not advanced since 2016.

PERU: A case that required the national registry to record a foreign same-sex marriage in 2017 was thrown out by the Supreme Court on a technicality in March, but then an appeal on that decision was held in the Constitutional Court in June. No decision has been announced yet. Some legislators welcomed the IACHR decision, but the government has announced no position on it.

HONDURAS: The President announced his opposition to same-sex marriage, but said it was up to the judiciary. The constitution does explicitly ban same-sex marriage since 2005. In May, a case was filed with the Supreme Court for same-sex marriage and it remains pending.

EL SALVADOR: The Constitutional Court struck down a proposed amendment to the constitution banning same-sex marriage, on procedural grounds. There hasn’t been any news in response to the IACHR ruling.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: There hasn’t been any movement regarding the IACHR’s marriage decision, but the President did issue an order allowing a group of trans people to change their legal gender in June.

BOLIVIA: With no movement from the government after the IACHR ruling, a group of trans activists appealed directly to the IACHR in May to have their relationships recognized. No decision has been made in that case.

PARAGUAY: Following the IACHR ruling, the President announced he would veto any same-sex marriage bill that came to his desk. The country’s LGBT advocacy group announced its intention to file a Supreme Court case for equal marriage.

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO: The nation’s high court ruled in September that the state’s buggery and indecent acts laws were unconstitutional, becoming the latest nation to decriminalize homosexuality in the region (following Belize in 2016). The Court did not go as far as Belize in finding that the a ban on sexual orientation discrimination must be read into the law. The government has announced its intention to appeal to the JCPC in London – the state’s final court of appeal. Read on the section above regarding UK territories for how this might impact other countries.

Also this year, a court ruled on the dissolution of a same-sex relationship, although this does not seem to have set a precedent so far.

GUYANA: The Caribbean Court of Justice, the state’s highest court, struck down an anti-cross-dressing law on the grounds it discriminated against trans people. A buggery law remains unchallenged.

GUATEMALA: The government reacted very negatively to the IACHR ruling, introducing a so-called “life and protection” bill that further bans same-sex marriage and criminalizes abortion and miscarriage. It is still pending through the legislative process.

CANADA: I didn’t write a year in review for Xtra this year, but here are the highlights. Canada’s House of Commons passed a justice reform bill that sweeps a number of anti-LGBT sections from the Criminal Code, including anal intercourse, vagrancy, and sections relating to bawdy houses. That bill is pending at the Senate. The government’s LGBT apology and expungement act was passed into law. Regulations around assisted reproduction were loosened to the benefit of queer couples, but maintained discrimination against queer sperm donors. Ontario elected a bigot as Premier and he’s set about throwing meat to the base by removing queer people from the sex ed curriculum. Nova Scotia and the city of Vancouver banned conversion therapy on minor; an Alberta MLA announced she’d introduce a bill to do so there, but it hasn’t landed yet.

 

ASIA-PACIFIC:

Before 2018: Equal Marriage in Australia, New Zealand, French overseas territories (French Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna, New Caledonia), UK overseas territories (Pitcairn Islands and British Indian Ocean Territory), parts of Antarctica (see below), US territories (Guam and Northern Mariana Islands Territory); limited recognition in American Samoa, Israel; civil union in Chilean territory (Easter Island); limited civil partnerships in some Japanese cities, most of Taiwan.

Developments in 2018: An inconclusive Taiwan referendum, limited victories in Hong Kong, more civil partnerships in Japan, decriminalization in (most of) India

Looking ahead: Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, Hong Kong/China, India, Cook Islands.

 

TAIWAN: In May 2017, the Judicial Yuan ruled in favor of same-sex marriage, and said the law would come into effect May 26, 2019 unless the government acted sooner. After stalling for over a year, anti-LGBT groups and pro-LGBT groups collected enough petitions to force competing referendums on the issue in November. The pro-equality side lost badly. It seems the government’s position is that it must respond to the referendum results by passing a law for same-sex ‘marriage’ that is separate from the marriage sections of the civil code but otherwise equal. We have no idea what this would look like now, but the Constitutional Court has already hinted that that would not be in the spirit of its original ruling and that the referendum cannot overrule it. In any event, in five months marriage equality should be the law in Taiwan, making it the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage.

HONG KONG: The territory’s Court of Final Appeal upheld an order requiring the government to grant a spousal visa to a lesbian citizen’s British partner. The government is complying with the ruling. In another case, a lesbian has filed a case with the High Court demanding the right to a civil partnership with her partner. The case is expected to be heard in early 2019.

CHINA: As the country moves to modernize its Civil Code by 2020, there have been calls to add provisions for same-sex marriage.

THAILAND: After long delays, the military government approved a civil partnership bill that gives many of the same rights as marriage, including adoption rights, on Dec 25. It will be sent to Parliament, but it appears unlikely to pass before the February elections.

JAPAN: A number of cities added same-sex partnership registries in 2018: Fukuoka, Osaka, Chiba, Toshima, Nakano, Fuchu, Kumamoto, Yokosuka (the latter five all taking effect in 2019). Partnership registries are also under consideration in:  Saitama, Yokohama, Abashiri, Hachiōji, Hannō, Iruma, Kamakura, Kawagoe, Kawasaki, Kazo, Moroyama, Sakado, and the Tokyo wards of Arakawa, Bunkyō, Chiyoda, Chūō, Katsushika, Kita, Kōtō, Nerima, Sumida, and Taitō. A legal challenge demanding access to full same-sex marriage has been announced.

PHILIPPINES: A civil unions bill and a sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination introduced in Congress last year appear to have both stalled. Both look like they will die ahead of May 2019 elections.

SOUTH KOREA: Hopes that a new draft constitution would include same-sex marriage were dashed when the constitutional talks failed.

INDIA: India’s Supreme Court struck down sections of the Indian Penal Code that criminalize gay sex, in a widely expected ruling. India was the largest country by population and area to criminalize LGBT people. An underreported detail, the ruling does not apply to the semi-autonomous disputed territory Jammu & Kashmir, which has its own penal code. It is expected that that should fall under an eventual separate court challenge, however. Some speculate that with the Supreme Court’s ruling, a ruling for same-sex marriage rights can’t be far behind. It certainly doesn’t look like the legislators are touching that though.

ISRAEL: A same-sex civil union bill was introduced, but failed by three votes in its preliminary reading after the government voted against it. The next election is scheduled for April 9, 2019, and the government is currently dominating the polls.

COOK ISLANDS: A revision of the territory’s Crimes Bill, which would strike the sodomy law, has been in consultations since 2017. It appears to have been delayed by elections, but I can’t find evidence that the bill was reintroduced post-elections. The Cook Islands is a sovereign country within the Realm of New Zealand. The South Pacific has been a specific focus of UN action on decriminalization recently, with decriminalization passing in Palau, Nauru, and Fiji this decade. Still to go: Solomon Islands, Samoa, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Tonga, and Papua New Guinea.

NEW CALEDONIA: This French territory’s independence referendum failed in November 2018, but another will be held in 2020. If it passes, and independence is achieved (likely after another couple of years of transition), it would become a new equal marriage country from birth (the first, unless Catalonia beats it).

Speaking of new states, the Bougainville Autonomous Region of Papua New Guinea is meant to hold an independence referendum in June 2019. If successful, it could be a new criminalizing state, unfortunately.

EASTER ISLAND: This Polynesian territory is part of Chile, and would gain equal marriage if Chile’s law passes.

ANTARCTICA: In a strictly academic sense, marriage equality is almost complete in Antarctica, since all of the claiming countries except Chile have passed a same-sex marriage law that applies to their Antarctic claims. However, the claims are not generally recognized internationally, except by each other (and even then, not completely – Argentina, Chile, and the UK claims all overlap). A quarter of Antarctica is not claimed by any country. Many countries have research bases in other countries claimed areas, and in practice, it is the base country’s laws that apply. Australia, France, Norway, New Zealand, UK, and Argentina are all equal marriage countries, and their law applies within their claim areas. Should Chile’s equal marriage bill pass, same-sex couples will have theoretical marriage rights throughout the claimed territory of Antarctica.

 

AFRICA:

Before 2018: Equal Marriage in South Africa, French overseas territories (Reunion, Mayotte), Spanish exclaves Cueta and Melilla; UK territory Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha.

NAMIBIA: A court case was brought to force the government to recognize a same-sex couple who were married in South Africa has been pending since December 2017.

ANGOLA: A long-delayed overhaul of the 19^th-century colonial penal code was delayed further in 2018. Though it would eliminate the vague laws banning sodomy, it also would forbid abortion in all circumstances. An MP is also proposing to reintroduce the death penalty. Consultations around the bill are ongoing, and it’s expected to pass in early 2019.

Southern Africa has been a relative hotspot of the decriminalization movement this decade, with victories in Lesotho, Sao Tome & Principe, and fellow former Portuguese colony Mozambique, along with discussions in Malawi and Botswana.

CHAD: It appears that the law criminalizing sodomy did come into effect in 2017, contrary to what I’d previously reported.

I love this promo pic from Theatre Forty-Two‘s production of my play Balls, opening tomorrow night in Sarnia, ON! Book your tickets here: http://buytickets.at/t42

 

I’m very proud to see that my first play, Balls, is getting a remount this month in Sarnia, ON from Theatre Forty-Two. Balls tells the story of two best friends learning what it takes to be men as they face testicular cancer. I was inspired to write it by a friend’s brave struggle with cancer. It’s such an honour to have it back on stage nine years after I last performed it.

Balls runs from Nov 23-Dec 1, directed by John Leverre and starring Darius Brooks and Josh Gibson. Partial proceeds go to Testicular Cancer Canada.

Book your tickets here: http://buytickets.at/t42

Being on Jeopardy! was something I’ve always wanted to do. Ever since I was in grade school, playing on my school’s trivia teams (in Canada they’re called “W5H,” as in who, what, where, when, why, how, or “Reach for the Top,” after an old CBC TV show), one of the ways I absorbed trivia and ordered information in my head was I would think about how this new fact I’d encountered would be phrased as a Jeopardy! question or category, in case I was ever on the show. It was also pretty useful for remembering things for tests and stuff.

I’d never actually thought I’d be on the show, but after living in LA for a while, one day I met viral sensation Louis Virtel (the Jeopardy! snapdragon) in a bar, and it occurred to me that, hey, this is something I could do since I live here. So, one January afternoon, I decided to look up how one becomes a contestant.

It turns out, they do an online test once a year and the test happened to be the next day. The quiz is 50 questions where you have ten seconds to type your response to each question. They don’t tell you how you do (though I’m pretty sure I got 46/50, based on the questions I remembered guessing on), just that you might hear from them sometime in the next 18 months.

Around April, I got an invitation to an in-person audition, which consisted of another 50-question test (on paper, in person, so they know you didn’t cheat), and then an on-camera mini-game, where I guess they wanted to test that you don’t freeze on camera (or blow up when your buzzer’s not working…) I was on my best behavior in the audition. I didn’t even complain when the producers accepted an incorrect answer from one of my mock competitors – *ahem*, “immigrate” is not an eight-letter word meaning to leave your country and move to another one! I think I got 45/50 on the in-person test, but again, they don’t tell you your score.

They tell you that if you passed you’ll be put in a contestant pool for 18 months, and if you didn’t pass, you won’t hear from them again. I later found out 80,000 people took the online test; of them, 8,000 passed; of them, 4,000 were offered auditions (I assume the ones who weren’t were people who were disqualified for other reasons or for geographic balance); and of those, only about 400 are offered spots on the show, there being about 200 regular shows per season and two new contestants per show. The odds of being selected for the show are therefore about 0.5%.

I got the call in June for a taping in July. Because I live in LA, I was called in as an alternate, meaning I only had a 50% chance of taping on my day, and if I didn’t get on, I would be called back very shortly and guaranteed a spot. They later explained that FCC rules require them to have an element of randomness in all aspects of the game, including contestant selection. In each game, the two new contestants are chosen at random from the contestants there that day. So, even though they only need ten contestants and a returning champion to film five episodes in a day, they actually call in eleven or twelve so that the players in the fifth game aren’t automatically determined by elimination after the other four games’ contestants are arranged. Alternates are used for the final game, and two players out of three or four are called.

I was actually hoping I wouldn’t be called on that day. At the time, I was working on a film set, and for the previous two weeks, I had been working fifteen-hour days and underslept with little time to study or prep. I didn’t even have clean, ironed clothes for the game! I told the producers when I arrived that if the other alternate wanted to play I was happy to let him and come back another day. They explained that they couldn’t do it. I was still banking on not playing because I was absolutely exhausted. During taping, I even nodded off in the middle of game four, despite having three cups of coffee, three cans of coke, and some weird Starbucks energy drink at lunch.

The first thing you do at the studio is record your “hometown howdie,” which is a mini-commercial they air for contestants in certain markets, and that you can share on social media. I’m in a different shirt because this one was moiré-ing, but they didn’t have time for me to go change it. Here’s mine:

Kyle Jones, the returning champion was a really nice guy. He’s the first person I met at the studio that day, in the parking lot waiting for producers to take us to set. I was just so excited he was a three-game winner already. Of course, at the time, I thought it was unlikely I was going to end up actually playing him, so it was a little easier to root for him! He is a fantastic player, and watching him romp his way through four games certainly did not put me in a confident mood when the producer came up to me after game four and announced that I was going to be playing next.

I honestly went into the game just hoping I didn’t come in third, and at least made it competitive. Me fighting with the buzzer in the first half of the Jeopardy round was also me saying to myself “C’mon Rob, you’re embarrassing yourself!”

What was happening was that I was buzzing too early, which locks you out for ¼ second. I got into a better rhythm during the commercial break when they retested the buzzers (they do this at every commercial break, not just when it appears one of the contestants is having a hissy fit) and one of the producers came over and told me to try waiting to see the lights at the side of the question board that indicate that the buzzers are open. Also, having Alex joke that my one correct answer put me in second place helped put me back at ease. I was really afraid I’d finish the game with zero dollars and never buzzing in!

Once you’re on the set, about 90% of the game is this timing. Most of the time, all three contestants know the answer (we all took the same placement test, after all), and there’s no real advantage to figuring it out first as long as you all know the answer by the end of the clue.

By the way, the first commercial break is also where they take your podium picture and your two-shot with Alex Trebek, who never, ever smiles. Honestly, I’ve met dozens of contestants on Facebook and he’s making the same face in all of our pics.

I really happened to luck out with the categories in the Double Jeopardy round. I wish I had said True Daily Double on the DD’s. But again, even though I knew the categories very well, I was so scared I’d just hand Kyle another victory by fumbling there.

If you don’t mind the plug, one of the reasons I did so well in “Countries Under 1 Million People” is because for the last few years I’ve been learning a lot about small countries by maintaining the @LGBTmarriage twitter feed, where I post news about same-sex marriage laws and LGBT rights around the world. For the record: Andorra has civil unions, San Marino is debating a civil union bill, Suriname and Djibouti have no recognition of LGBT couples, and Bhutan criminalizes gay sex.

Also, “It’s a Biblical Thing” is a tricky category, because the writers like to find really obscure stuff for Bible questions, but they were all fairly basic.

There were some clues that were just gifts. I was really happy to have a Marvel Comics question come up.

And this clue from “Lines from the TV Comedy” is literally my favorite joke from Friends and I think of it at least once weekly. It’s just such a perfect clever/dumb Chandler joke!

BTW, the reason I avoided the Senators category was because I didn’t realize that “115th Congress” was the current Congress until after taping. I still did pretty well, given I’ve only lived in this country two years! It was a lucky break that none of the Senators were terribly obscure. If you listen close, you can actually hear me climax a little bit after I said “Collins” to bring me over the top to a runaway. (It was already a runaway, but if Kyle got to it first, or if I’d guessed wrong, it would have been different).

Going into Final Jeopardy, my brain had basically shutdown. Trying to figure out my wager felt like doing sudoku right after sex. I literally did the math six times on scrap paper because I didn’t trust myself to not fuck up the wager and lose. The funny thing is, while the clue stumped all three of us, I had actually been looking at the Wikipedia page for “turquoise” just a few weeks previous, when I fell down a wiki-hole about gemstones. I think in my head I think of turquoise as green, not blue. Alex came over during the credits sequence to tell us that he thought the question was far too easy for Final Jeopardy and wanted the writers to change it and was disappointed in all of us for missing it. Oh well. I still went home the Champion.

Going back in for Monday’s taping was weird. I had five days off between my shows, and they were five days I walked around thinking of myself as the Jeopardy! Champion. Five days of imagining myself going on a multi-day streak, maybe even beating Ken Jennings’ record. Five days of earning and spending hundreds of thousands of imaginary dollars. Five days of planning a week’s worth of dumb podium bits I was gonna do during my contestant intro. You thought my dramatic turn was dumb? You should’ve seen what I had planned for Tuesday!

Incidentally, I didn’t do anything weird at the podium on the Friday show because the middle contestant’s intro is pre-taped so that the camera can use that time to swing from contestant three to the returning champ.

I arrived at the taping and met the week’s contestants. It’s weird being introduced as the Jeopardy! Champion because the other contestants suddenly look at you with this weird mixed expression that’s a cross between “I’m so amazed and impressed” and “I’m going to take you down!” I didn’t expect this because when I met Kyle the previous week I thought it was so unlikely we’d play each other. I barely got to know any of the week’s contestants, because I wasn’t recording a hometown howdy with them, and, being in the first game, I didn’t get to sit and watch a game with them or do lunch like I did with the last week’s contestants. I briefly met two other Canadian women and another gay dude. One of the Canadians has already had her shows air, and she pulled off two big wins!

The game was rough. The categories and clues were, I think, particularly obscure. I joked before the show that if there was a “shit that only I know” category it would be comic book trivia, so when the first round had a “Words from Comics” category I was pumped! Then it turned out they were all Depression-era comic strips. (I am happy that I got the “V For Vendetta” clue, so at least there was one comic book answer!).

“Company Car” – well, anyone who knows me knows I can only recognize cars by color and number of doors. I think I even put the buzzer down at one point here.

I hated the Galapagos video category because it ate up so much time in the game, which left us with $10,000 still on the board at the end of Double Jeopardy. I really wish the producers had let us know that if a sponsored category like that comes up, we have to get through it before the first round can end. Also, what you don’t know at home is that the video clues get played on a 36” screen that’s about 30 feet away from you. The images are not always super clear or easy to make out. I shouldn’t have guessed on that final clue (still my only wrong answer in a regular round of play!) – what happened there was that I could barely make out the photo (those plants are really small and distant in the video they used, and the screen is really far away). It looked like moss, and I was focusing so hard on the video I wasn’t listening to the clue. Whoops.

Basically, my buzzer game was Friday in reverse – I was really strong in the pre-commercial round (I answered 7/14 clues) but then only buzzed in 5 more times in the whole game. That of course made it much less likely that I’d find the Daily Doubles. I have to admit though, the fact that Nancy and Will beat me to the buzzer saved me a few times where they guessed the same wrong answer I would have, so, again, who knows? (If you look at the stats, Will and I have the same number of correct minus incorrect answers, 11; Nancy’s score was 10. Our relative performance overall wasn’t terrible, but they did better in the more important second round).

I have a few other regrets game-play wise. I suck at wordplay categories, but “alpinist” and “latinate” were on the tip of my tongue.

The Final Jeopardy category was insane. “British Monarchy.” Now, I had a list of things I wanted to study before the show, and the list of past British monarchs was literally the next thing on the list I didn’t get to. Like, I was memorizing the list of British PMs in the parking lot before the taping, and just decided to stop and go in. I figured I was done for, so I may as well wager everything. I wrote in the bet and hit the “enter” key and immediately realized what I should’ve done was bet zero. I called over a producer and asked if I could change it, since there were still several minutes before we got back from break. She said “sorry, you already hit enter. We can’t do anything.” (The producers had explained this very clearly before taping, I was just checking to see if it was really the case).

When the clue popped up, it took me a second to realize that the longest serving Prince of Wales would have been Queen Victoria’s son. I knew the kings alternated Edwards and Georges until Elizabeth II, but I didn’t know how many of them there were in between. I knew Edward VIII abdicated in the 30s. Eventually, I decided that there must’ve been four kings before Edward VIII, so it would have been two Edwards back, making the answer Edward VI. Given a few more seconds of thought, I would have realized four kings in 30 years is too many, and would’ve landed at the correct answer, Edward VII, but what are you gonna do? It’s an incredibly stressful moment!

Will and Nancy both played great. I’ll also be cheering for Kyle in the Tournament of Champions later this year, if only so I can brag that I’m the only one who’s beaten him. j/k, mostly.

The past two weeks have been amazing. I’ve loved all of your reactions to my posts on social media, and the messages I’ve been getting from friends and strangers. The other Jeopardy! players I met in the studio and on Facebook this week have all been great. This whole experience has given me stories I’ll be telling for the rest of my life – so friends, be prepared.

I guess the moral of this whole story is follow your dreams! Do all the crazy things you’ve always wanted to do but keep putting off! If it seems impossible, Google it and you might get your opportunity the very next day!

For now, I’ll leave you with this:

Are you excited for my appearance on Jeopardy! coming up Friday, September 21?

Then why don’t you try to answer this skill-testing question they tested me on before the game began?

Earlier this summer an absolute lifelong dream of mine came true when I got to compete on an episode of Jeopardy! I can’t say anything about how the show went, but you can check it out and root for me Friday, September 21 — consult local listings for showtimes and channels. In Los Angeles, it airs on ABC at 7pm. I’m not sure about Toronto.

It looks like Alex Trebek can’t quite believe he’s standing next to me either!

When I started this annual tradition of writing a blog post about annual progress on the fight for same-sex marriage around the world way back in the stone age of 2013, it wasn’t easy to find comprehensive information about the subject on the web. Now, thanks to some dedicated work of Wikipedia editors, and the exhaustive work of former journalist Rex Wockner, there’s much more information out there. So in this year’s update, I’m going to try instead to synthesize the facts, the developments over the past year, and what we can expect to happen in 2018.

Since this post can get very long, I’ve decided to break it up into different pages:

Same-sex marriage in Europe
Same-sex marriage in the Americas
Same-sex marriage in Asia, Africa, and Oceania

Overview:

2017 was a bit of a banner year for the movement. Several jurisdictions were added to the list of equal marriage countries: Finland, Germany, Malta, Australia. Judicial rulings for marriage equality came out in Taiwan and Austria. Three Mexican states, three UK Overseas Territories, and two UK dependencies also became equal marriage jurisdictions. We also had rulings and administrative decisions in favor of recognizing legal same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions in Armenia, Estonia, and Italy. By my count, this is the biggest single jump in the number of equal-marriage countries since 2013, when Brazil, France, New Zealand and Uruguay all legalized. Heading into 2018, more than 1.2 billion people live in equal marriage jurisdictions, and several more countries are either debating equal marriage laws in their legislatures or their Supreme Courts.

Populations of equal-marriage countries:

United States (including Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and the US Virgin Islands)	327,847,797
Brazil	209,567,920
Mexico	128,632,004
Germany	80,716,000
United Kingdom (excluding Northern Ireland; including Isle of Man, Guernsey, Alderney, Bermuda, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Pitcairn Islands, Akrotiri & Dhekelia, and St. Helena, Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha)	62,969,237
France (including all territories)	66,842,000
South Africa	54,978,907
Colombia	48,654,392
Spain	46,064,604
Argentina	43,847,277
Canada	36,286,378
Australia	23,702,300
Netherlands (including Caribbean Netherlands)	17,000,059
Belgium	11,371,928
Portugal	10,304,434
Sweden	9,851,852
Austria	8,504,850
Denmark (including Greenland and Faroe Islands)	5,764,423
Finland	5,523,904
Norway	5,271,958
Ireland	4,713,993
New Zealand (excluding territories)	4,565,185
Uruguay	3,444,071
Luxembourg	576,243
Malta	446,547
Iceland	331,778
TOTAL	1,217,780,041

 

Populations of Countries with same-sex civil unions:

Italy	59,801,004
Taiwan	23,550,077
Chile	18,131,850
Ecuador	16,385,450
Greece	10,919,459
Czech Republic	10,548,058
Hungary	9,821,318
Switzerland	8,379,477
Croatia	4,225,001
Slovenia	2,069,362
Northern Ireland (UK)	1,864,000
Estonia	1,309,104
Cyprus (excluding Northern Cyprus)	1,176,598
Aruba	104,263
Jersey (UK)	100,080
Andorra	69,165
Liechtenstein	37,776
TOTAL CIVIL UNION	168,492,042

The total populations of the countries and territories with either same-sex marriage or civil unions is approximately 1,386,272,083.

Continue to:

Same-sex marriage in Europe
Same-sex marriage in the Americas
Same-sex marriage in Asia, Africa, and Oceania